Turkey’s War on the Judiciary: Is Ankara Really Flouting International Concerns?

Bulletin PISM, no 16 (611), 6 February 2014
The Polish Institute of International Affairs

Pinar Elman *

The Turkish government has reacted to recent corruption probes by attacking the rule of law and the judiciary. This has confirmed international concerns about the state of democracy in Turkey and has drawn censure from the Euro-Atlantic community. And yet, the community may have misread Ankara’s motivations. Far from arrogantly flouting international concerns, Ankara is acting out of concern for them. Dismayed by the damage inflicted by the judiciary to its reputation as perceived in Washington and Brussels, Ankara is moving quickly to rid itself of the influence of the hostile Gulen movement, a community accused of attempting a sort of coup through its influence in the judiciary. Ankara’s actions are deeply misguided, but they illustrate the leverage open to the EU to correct them.

* Pinar Elman is an analyst at the Polish Institute of International Affairs.

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